MASHHAD - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Monday that there is no difference between the uprising against tyranny in Bahrain with other Arab countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia or Libya.

The Leader, who was addressing a large group of people in Mashhad in the first day of Noruz (the Persian New Year), said this claim that Iran is supporting the Bahrainis because they are mostly Shia is absolutely false.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran has been supporting the Sunni Muslims in Palestine over the past 32 years and this shows that Iran makes no difference between Shias and Sunnis.
The Leader said those who are trying to interpret the Bahraini people’s uprising against despotism as the conflict between Shia and Sunni are in fact doing the “greatest service” to the United States.
“Do not turn the anti-despotic movement of a nation into a Shia-Sunni problem,” Ayatollah Khamenei warned.
“We will not make a differentiation between Gaza, Palestine, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia,” the Leader asserted.
He also called Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Bahrain a “mistake” which will make Saudi Arabia detested in the eyes of the people.
The Bahrainis are only seeking a legitimate demand of “one man one vote” in their country, Leader of the Islamic Revolution explained.
The Leader went on to say that the West does not describe the stationing of Saudi tanks in Manama streets as an intervention while it considers calls by Iranian ulema that the Bahraini rulers should not kill people as intervention.
The Leader said the popular uprisings which have started against dictatorship and has religious identity will “certainly win”.
West wants Libya’s oil
The Leader said Iran condemns in the strongest terms both the Gaddafi regime’s brutal suppression of the people and also the West’s military intervention in the country.
If the West’s purpose of military intervention is to defend the Libyan people why it had waited for a month to see the massacre of the Libyans by Gaddafi’s government and then after a month it has resorted to military action.
“Your want Libya’s oil; you want to find a foothold in Libya in order to monitor the future governments of Tunisia and Egypt,” the Supreme Leader noted.
Major change in Arab-Islamic world
The Leader said a major change is happening in the Islamic-Arab world and this is a “sign of awakening by the Islamic ummah”.
And the people’s struggle against autocratic rulers in the Arab world has “religious” identity and this manifests itself in Friday prayers and also influenced by ulema and persons who have founded modern new religious thoughts, the Leader explained.
U.S. losing in the region
The Leader said the toppling of the U.S.-backed dictators in the region is dealing the greatest blow to Washington’s interests in the region.
However, now that Hosni Mubarak and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali have been overthrown the White House has been seeking an opportunity to cheat the people and bring to power persons in Egypt and Tunisia that would protect Washington’s interests, and at the same to “assimilate” uprisings in other countries such as Iran.